1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a venous distensibility evaluation index measuring apparatus that provides a measurement on an evaluation index for a venous distensibility.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As for the evaluation of the venous distensibility according to the prior art, there has been employed a venous occlusion plethysmography (see the nonpatent reference 1, for example) by way of the impedance method, in which forearm veins are compressed by a cuff to thereby cause the blood to be stored in a terminal region of a body distant from the heart (i.e., in the hand side), and a change in volume of veins is measured, wherein the evaluation has been given based on a variation in the volume of the forearm veins per unit time in such a manner that if a gradient of the variation in the volume of the forearm veins per unit time is large, it is determined that the blood can flow easily, and if the gradient of the variation in the volume thereof per unit time is small, it is determined that the blood is difficult to flow.
Nonpatent Reference 1
“Standard Physiology”, 4th edition, Mar. 1, 1999 (3rd impression), pp. 508-509, edited by T. Hongo, T. Hiroshige, J. Toyoda, and M. Kumada.
The venous occlusion plethysmography by way of the impedance method described above, however, can simply measure the volumetric change in the veins, but it has inhibited the evaluation of the venous distensibility based on the measured result by this method, unless technicians such as physicians provide instructions thereon.
In this connection, an object of the present invention, in the light of the circumstances described above, is to provide a venous distensibility evaluation index measuring apparatus that can provide an evaluation of the venous distensibility in a simple and convenient manner.